Kayaking the white waters of the NEW RIVER, West Virginia.
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Realizing Potential 05/12/2012
I wish I could say that I always thought I was a great attorney. Despite having clerked for a Federal Court Judge, practicing in England and being a member of the Executive Committee on the State Bar, I still had doubts. I saw all these men and a few women with their own firms, making a lot of money and winning accolades for their work. Grant you, these lawyers worked hard to earn their money and I give them their due. Most attorneys, contrary to the ones on television, don't get a case in the morning and win it that afternoon in trial. I've had numerous cases go 4-5 years in which I bleed money on depsotions, filing fees, experts, etc. and don't get a dime back until I finally win the case or settle it. Try going four-five years spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a case...mostly on credit...and not getting a paycheck. It's really stressful. Not, damn, I broke a nail stressful, but crap, I can't sleep, I overeat and I scream at my family stressful (we won't even talk about the things I call the dogs.)
I've made good money being a lawyer, but not a lot...not a "buy a summer house in the Hamptons" type of money. I thought that being a great lawyer meant you owned all the 'things' that came with being a great one...a Lexus, a summer home, a pair of Jimmy Choos...but since I don't own those, I felt as if I hadn't lived up to my potential. Sure, I own good cars, a time share, and a great pair of Stuart Weitzmans that I bought at The Rack for $55, but it's not quite the same is it?
But it wasn't until this last case that I realize that I am a great lawyer...I'm just a lousy businesswoman. I give clients free advice, I charge my friends at my cost and, because I work at home and don't have the huge overhead of a downtown office, I cut my hourly so that people, working class people, can afford representation. You'd think this would be enough, but then, when we settle the case, I offer to cut some of my fees so that my clients' will get more in their pocket. You see, most of the male lawyers I know would never think of doing these things for their client because they'd think that they deserved the money because of all their hard work, their reputation and the fact that, after all their years of experience, they know what they're doing. And frankly, they'd be right, they do work hard for the money. But I just can't bring myself to do charge what I'm worth ergo, I'm a crappy businesswoman.
However, this last lawsuit it finally hit me that my strategy and understanding of the legal issues in the case was far superior the two men opposing me, one of which probably has that vacation home somewhere and his wife wears the right clothes. They can afford these things because these two attorneys charge twice my hourly fee. At every turn we bested these attorneys. Despite the fact that they lost every motion and their clients were stripped of their defense by a motion I wrote, the attorneys went home with a hell of a lot of money--probably double what I did. So, despite the fact that I am the better lawyer, I will not have masive vacation homes or wear shoes with red soles or win trial of the year because of my Armani suits. On the other hand, I will have clients who spend Christmas with me, send me birthday cards and many times become close friends that buy me flowers, invite me to dinner and their children's weddings. Now who's richer?
I've made good money being a lawyer, but not a lot...not a "buy a summer house in the Hamptons" type of money. I thought that being a great lawyer meant you owned all the 'things' that came with being a great one...a Lexus, a summer home, a pair of Jimmy Choos...but since I don't own those, I felt as if I hadn't lived up to my potential. Sure, I own good cars, a time share, and a great pair of Stuart Weitzmans that I bought at The Rack for $55, but it's not quite the same is it?
But it wasn't until this last case that I realize that I am a great lawyer...I'm just a lousy businesswoman. I give clients free advice, I charge my friends at my cost and, because I work at home and don't have the huge overhead of a downtown office, I cut my hourly so that people, working class people, can afford representation. You'd think this would be enough, but then, when we settle the case, I offer to cut some of my fees so that my clients' will get more in their pocket. You see, most of the male lawyers I know would never think of doing these things for their client because they'd think that they deserved the money because of all their hard work, their reputation and the fact that, after all their years of experience, they know what they're doing. And frankly, they'd be right, they do work hard for the money. But I just can't bring myself to do charge what I'm worth ergo, I'm a crappy businesswoman.
However, this last lawsuit it finally hit me that my strategy and understanding of the legal issues in the case was far superior the two men opposing me, one of which probably has that vacation home somewhere and his wife wears the right clothes. They can afford these things because these two attorneys charge twice my hourly fee. At every turn we bested these attorneys. Despite the fact that they lost every motion and their clients were stripped of their defense by a motion I wrote, the attorneys went home with a hell of a lot of money--probably double what I did. So, despite the fact that I am the better lawyer, I will not have masive vacation homes or wear shoes with red soles or win trial of the year because of my Armani suits. On the other hand, I will have clients who spend Christmas with me, send me birthday cards and many times become close friends that buy me flowers, invite me to dinner and their children's weddings. Now who's richer?
Achilles Heels 01/20/2012
Achilles Heels 01/20/2012
I'm erratic when it comes to getting up and moving my body. I'm no idiot, I can read. I know that exercise is good for you and at my age a necessity, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I learned a long time ago that unless I exercise regularly with a friend or attend a class, I won't do it. I've tried the Wii, DVD's, and have purchased a gym-full of equipment that have disappeared in garage sales, but they don't motivate me. As an A personality, I have to have structure and someone (i.e. the teacher) monitoring my attendance and encouraging me or I'd be at home in bed watching television and surfing the web (as I am right now.)
Having said that, it's rather depressing to know that I attend four aerobic/weight training classes a week and I still huff and puff when I hike in Yosemite. Still, I'm a trooper and keep going no matter what.
This semester I've signed up for more! I added a Yoga class once I saw how rounded my shoulders were getting typing all day. So now I have almost seven hours of exercise a week along with walking my dogs. But is this enough considering I sit on my butt the rest of the day? Who knows.
Now I need to add better nutrition so that I can both improve my health and lose some weight which has been creeping onto my frame over the last five years. Rather than just following a plan at home, I have to find someplace to go where someone other than me monitors my progress. I know I'll behave and follow the diet if I have to answer to someone.
The question then arises--why do I need to have someone else monitoring my progress? I think it has to do with my desire to please someone and not let them down. If I show up and do the work, the teacher approves and I'm happy. When I see this confession in print, it just reminds me that I still, at my age, need approval from others. Ugh... I hate having an Achilles Heel. I thought I'd gotten rid of that aspect of my personality
It just goes to show that some things never change! And at this stage of the game, I don't think I really care. If my tragic flaw helps me get in shape and improve my diet then I'm glad I need someone's approval. Sometimes you just have to shoe that Achilles Heel and keep walking.
Having said that, it's rather depressing to know that I attend four aerobic/weight training classes a week and I still huff and puff when I hike in Yosemite. Still, I'm a trooper and keep going no matter what.
This semester I've signed up for more! I added a Yoga class once I saw how rounded my shoulders were getting typing all day. So now I have almost seven hours of exercise a week along with walking my dogs. But is this enough considering I sit on my butt the rest of the day? Who knows.
Now I need to add better nutrition so that I can both improve my health and lose some weight which has been creeping onto my frame over the last five years. Rather than just following a plan at home, I have to find someplace to go where someone other than me monitors my progress. I know I'll behave and follow the diet if I have to answer to someone.
The question then arises--why do I need to have someone else monitoring my progress? I think it has to do with my desire to please someone and not let them down. If I show up and do the work, the teacher approves and I'm happy. When I see this confession in print, it just reminds me that I still, at my age, need approval from others. Ugh... I hate having an Achilles Heel. I thought I'd gotten rid of that aspect of my personality
It just goes to show that some things never change! And at this stage of the game, I don't think I really care. If my tragic flaw helps me get in shape and improve my diet then I'm glad I need someone's approval. Sometimes you just have to shoe that Achilles Heel and keep walking.
Shopping 05/29/2011
When I was a little girl my father was an enlisted man in the Navy and my mother was a reluctant stay at home mother (good fodder for a different bog.) Obviously, money was never in abundance although I never felt poor. We lived in a lower-middle class suburb of San Diego in a three bedroom house with about 1100 square feet. Our kitchen was so small you could hardly squeeze two people into it. The neighborhood would eventually rest on the edge of San Diego's ghetto but my parents never moved despite a bullet being shot through their hollow-core front door into a closet (luckily they were in Vegas when this happened.)
Every month the bills were paid in full, my parents never got behind (a trait they passed on to my sister and me.) My mother, however, could shop. When I was really little I hated my Mother's hobby because it meant I had to go along, waiting for her to finish, a task that
could take most of a day. Around nine or ten I became an avid shopper just like my mother. But we couldn’t afford a lot so my mother always went in search of the perfect deal. No item found itself in her shopping basket unless it was deeply discounted. The fact that we shopped for clothing in a store that had shopping baskets tells you a lot about our finances.
Usually we ended up at Kmart and I can remember hunting my mother down to ask her something and finding her on the heels of a bargain. She’d manipulate the price tag, making sure it was really discounted according to the advertisement . Then she’d inspect the item, insuring that it was worthy of the shopping basket and, after weighing the price against the quality of the goods, if it passed muster it went into the shopping cart. This was a serious procedure, one which I repeat today. Finding bargains became a form of entertainment for the women in our family and we were damn good at it.
I remember the adrenalin would pump whenever they would announce a Blue Light Special at KMart. Mom and I would scan the store for the light and run, hoping to beat out the other Blue Light enthusiast. There were times I would lurk in the background waiting for the clerk to wheel the blue light to its next ‘special' like a lion stalking the prized zebra. I can remember the deep disappointment when she’d wheel it towards the automotive section, realizing it would be another half hour before a new special would be announced. But those times when the blue light bobbed past racks of clothes and ended up next to a huge bin of purses or shoes or bras, whoa, was that Nirvana. I’d yell out for my mom, getting her attention to let her know that she needed to join me because when the light went on it was going to be a good one and we’d be first to go through the goods.
My friend, Debbie, purchased a dress at a department store when I was about fifteen. First, I didn’t know anyone who could afford to buy clothes as a department store that wasn’t Sears or JC Penney’s. She had paid $36 at The Broadway for the dress. Thirty-six dollars! And at full retail price! I was in awe. I was divided. She should have waited for it to go on sale, so I thought she was foolish. But, I was also envious that someone could like something so much that they paid full retail at a department store.
The Broadway was a notch up from Sears and Penny’s. It was on par with May Company, which was a step below Robinson’s.
Above Robinson’s was Norsdtrom’s (a store I still think is overpriced except during their twice yearly sales) and then the cream of the crop was Bullock’s, Neiman Marcus and Sax Fifth Avenue. Years later when I started to make money, I would shop on a regular basis at Robinson’s and feel like I had ‘made it.’ Funny, but May Company was eventually swallowed up by Robinson’s, becoming Robinson’s-May. Years later, Robinson’s-May and The Broadway would be swallowed up by Macy’s. If you live long enough, you see the evolution of a lot of things, animals, department stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. Some become extinct like May Company and Coastal Sage Brush and others become so prolific (think Starbucks) that you wish that you could get a permit to take them out just like you do when the deer over populate an area.
My own shopping habits, like my mother’s, are ingrained. I pay off my credit cards each month and make sure my bills are covered before I shop, but boy can I shop. And I only shop for bargains, still unable to pay full retail for anything unless it’s for my husband (#2.) It’s a funny thing about credit. In 1977, my first husband (then my fiancé) applied for a Sear’s credit card and was declined. Hubby #1 was an industrious, hard working man who always paid his bills and would have paid Sears any money they gave as credit, but for some reason they turned him down. We married that September and I applied on my own for a Sear’s credit card. We lived in the Midwest during a time when men still refused to work for women and no woman made more than their husband…God forbid. Well, I made more than my husband (a whopping $13,500 a year which was a good salary back then.) And I received a call from Sears telling me that I was the first woman in the United States to be given a credit card based on my salary alone without my husband co-signing! I was excited, but my husband was embarrassed. Oh, well. I was also the first woman to be hired at Beatrice Foods in Cincinnati in a management position (I wasn't always an attorney--went to law school when I was 28). Two older truck drivers retired rather than take orders from me (a woman…from California no less.)
But shopping has its drawbacks, some of which are not so obvious. The worst is that I can’t get rid of anything and when I see those hoarder programs on television, I feel my stomach turn. Friends assure me that I have clutter (a word that explains the fact that I have piles of things within arms reach of my bed) and that I am not a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination. But I have a three car garage and we park all our vehicles outside. Granted, my law practice is run from my home and all of my records for the last ten years are in the garage, I have my son’s best friend living with us and his stuff is stored in there and finally my parents died and frankly, I never quite managed to get rid of all their stuff, but still it worries me that I can’t park one car in my garage. When you have this much crap, you can’t find it when you need it and so—that’s right—you buy more.
Nonetheless, I graduated rather quickly to shopping online when no one shopped online. I’m a tech nut. I bought a hybrid SUV for my husband in 2005 when the hybrid SUV came out. I now drive a Insight Hybrid. I love tech gadgets and am still shaking
my head because I still don’t have an iPad. I do have a Nook, iPhone, Blue Ray player, Induction cooktop, microwave that also doubles as a convection oven, all the iPods you could ever want plus I buy a new laptop each year. A lot of these things were purchased online. In fact, we recently remodeled our kitchen and 90% of the things I purchased for it, i.e. sink, lights, appliances, faucets, etc. were purchased online and all at deeply discounted prices. The internet, it seems, is a bargain hunter's crack cocaine. I can spend hours shopping for the best price on the right outlet covers online, feeding my bargain addiction, never paying retail. I'm persistent...even going so far as to contacting the retailers to see if they'll beat another online price!
My Mom would be so proud.
Every month the bills were paid in full, my parents never got behind (a trait they passed on to my sister and me.) My mother, however, could shop. When I was really little I hated my Mother's hobby because it meant I had to go along, waiting for her to finish, a task that
could take most of a day. Around nine or ten I became an avid shopper just like my mother. But we couldn’t afford a lot so my mother always went in search of the perfect deal. No item found itself in her shopping basket unless it was deeply discounted. The fact that we shopped for clothing in a store that had shopping baskets tells you a lot about our finances.
Usually we ended up at Kmart and I can remember hunting my mother down to ask her something and finding her on the heels of a bargain. She’d manipulate the price tag, making sure it was really discounted according to the advertisement . Then she’d inspect the item, insuring that it was worthy of the shopping basket and, after weighing the price against the quality of the goods, if it passed muster it went into the shopping cart. This was a serious procedure, one which I repeat today. Finding bargains became a form of entertainment for the women in our family and we were damn good at it.
I remember the adrenalin would pump whenever they would announce a Blue Light Special at KMart. Mom and I would scan the store for the light and run, hoping to beat out the other Blue Light enthusiast. There were times I would lurk in the background waiting for the clerk to wheel the blue light to its next ‘special' like a lion stalking the prized zebra. I can remember the deep disappointment when she’d wheel it towards the automotive section, realizing it would be another half hour before a new special would be announced. But those times when the blue light bobbed past racks of clothes and ended up next to a huge bin of purses or shoes or bras, whoa, was that Nirvana. I’d yell out for my mom, getting her attention to let her know that she needed to join me because when the light went on it was going to be a good one and we’d be first to go through the goods.
My friend, Debbie, purchased a dress at a department store when I was about fifteen. First, I didn’t know anyone who could afford to buy clothes as a department store that wasn’t Sears or JC Penney’s. She had paid $36 at The Broadway for the dress. Thirty-six dollars! And at full retail price! I was in awe. I was divided. She should have waited for it to go on sale, so I thought she was foolish. But, I was also envious that someone could like something so much that they paid full retail at a department store.
The Broadway was a notch up from Sears and Penny’s. It was on par with May Company, which was a step below Robinson’s.
Above Robinson’s was Norsdtrom’s (a store I still think is overpriced except during their twice yearly sales) and then the cream of the crop was Bullock’s, Neiman Marcus and Sax Fifth Avenue. Years later when I started to make money, I would shop on a regular basis at Robinson’s and feel like I had ‘made it.’ Funny, but May Company was eventually swallowed up by Robinson’s, becoming Robinson’s-May. Years later, Robinson’s-May and The Broadway would be swallowed up by Macy’s. If you live long enough, you see the evolution of a lot of things, animals, department stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. Some become extinct like May Company and Coastal Sage Brush and others become so prolific (think Starbucks) that you wish that you could get a permit to take them out just like you do when the deer over populate an area.
My own shopping habits, like my mother’s, are ingrained. I pay off my credit cards each month and make sure my bills are covered before I shop, but boy can I shop. And I only shop for bargains, still unable to pay full retail for anything unless it’s for my husband (#2.) It’s a funny thing about credit. In 1977, my first husband (then my fiancé) applied for a Sear’s credit card and was declined. Hubby #1 was an industrious, hard working man who always paid his bills and would have paid Sears any money they gave as credit, but for some reason they turned him down. We married that September and I applied on my own for a Sear’s credit card. We lived in the Midwest during a time when men still refused to work for women and no woman made more than their husband…God forbid. Well, I made more than my husband (a whopping $13,500 a year which was a good salary back then.) And I received a call from Sears telling me that I was the first woman in the United States to be given a credit card based on my salary alone without my husband co-signing! I was excited, but my husband was embarrassed. Oh, well. I was also the first woman to be hired at Beatrice Foods in Cincinnati in a management position (I wasn't always an attorney--went to law school when I was 28). Two older truck drivers retired rather than take orders from me (a woman…from California no less.)
But shopping has its drawbacks, some of which are not so obvious. The worst is that I can’t get rid of anything and when I see those hoarder programs on television, I feel my stomach turn. Friends assure me that I have clutter (a word that explains the fact that I have piles of things within arms reach of my bed) and that I am not a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination. But I have a three car garage and we park all our vehicles outside. Granted, my law practice is run from my home and all of my records for the last ten years are in the garage, I have my son’s best friend living with us and his stuff is stored in there and finally my parents died and frankly, I never quite managed to get rid of all their stuff, but still it worries me that I can’t park one car in my garage. When you have this much crap, you can’t find it when you need it and so—that’s right—you buy more.
Nonetheless, I graduated rather quickly to shopping online when no one shopped online. I’m a tech nut. I bought a hybrid SUV for my husband in 2005 when the hybrid SUV came out. I now drive a Insight Hybrid. I love tech gadgets and am still shaking
my head because I still don’t have an iPad. I do have a Nook, iPhone, Blue Ray player, Induction cooktop, microwave that also doubles as a convection oven, all the iPods you could ever want plus I buy a new laptop each year. A lot of these things were purchased online. In fact, we recently remodeled our kitchen and 90% of the things I purchased for it, i.e. sink, lights, appliances, faucets, etc. were purchased online and all at deeply discounted prices. The internet, it seems, is a bargain hunter's crack cocaine. I can spend hours shopping for the best price on the right outlet covers online, feeding my bargain addiction, never paying retail. I'm persistent...even going so far as to contacting the retailers to see if they'll beat another online price!
My Mom would be so proud.
The Art of Being Lazy 05/27/2011
I've discovered that I'm lazy. I didn't used to be. In fact, I was one of those women who could multi-task like a madwoman. People were in awe of my boundless energy and amazing ability to get things done. But about four years ago I ran out of steam and now I don't push myself so hard and sometimes I even procrastinate, something I'd never do as a younger woman. I cut back my practice, spending my free time writing, traveling and hiking. I go to my aerobic classes and that's where I get most of my exercise. I don't want to clean, cook or garden although I force myself out of my prone position and do them on occasion. I watch too much television and spend too much time on the computer, but I've earned it. After years of being a breadwinner, stressing myself out and ending up depressed, I finally found happiness in the art of being lazy. (More to come)
Writing Fanfiction 05/13/2011
Not everyone knows what fanfiction is and to be honest, I feel a little sheepish when I tell people that I write fanfiction as a hobby. The fact that I could be so completely enamored with a fictional character that I write love stories involving them is sometimes embarrassing, but alas, it's true. I've written fanfics since I was twelve, when I began writing stories involving my friends and myself in the sixties television series, "Here Comes the Brides." More importantly, I've spent most of my life writing stories in my head, mainly to put myself to sleep. Some people read books to help them relax and get to sleep, I make up stories in my head. These stories probably started with Sherlock Holmes, who I fell in love with when I was eight and still love to this day. I read the entire Holmes canon by the time I turned ten and have purchased numerous books and artifacts on the fictional character. When I lived in England, I purchased first edition books, Harpers Weekly and Strand magazines containing Sherlock Holmes's stories. I even have an autographed photo of Jeremy Brett taken a few years before he died while he was still filming the Granada production of Sherlock Holmes. I actually met my husband while I was in England attending Cambridge University. I went to England to study because I wanted to visit the locations of the Sherlock Holmes's stories, not because of the prestige of attending Cambridge.
My passion for fictional characters did not stop with Holmes. Around the same time, I also fell in love with another 'logical' fictional character, Spock. It seems odd now that as a ten year old I could become so infatuted with a green skinned, pointed ear character, but I did. As with Holmes, my desire for the character has influenced my life. I've dragged friends and family to numerous StarTrek Conventions, starting when there were small gatherings in dingy hotels back in the 1970s. I have Star Trek paraphenalia all over my house, incuding a Spock teddy bear recently given to me by one of my fanfic readers!
My love for Spock and Holmes hasn't faded and they still occasionally wiggle their way into my daydreams. But in my late twenties, my main fictional squeeze was Jean Luc Piccard, from Star Trek Next Generation. Although I'm still a fan, he's not quite the romantic lead in my head like Holmes and Spock and of course the fictional character that dominates most of my recent fanfic.
Seven years ago I began to watch House MD and immediately became attracted to the emotionally distant and troubled physician. I discovered that there were numerous sites devoted to stories about fictional characters written by fans. It wasn't long before I began writing and posting House fanfic, building a following of readers over the years. In addition to conversing online with my readers, I've met several, have attended our own conventions and, to this day, consider many of them good friends. Writing fanfiction was a Godsend. I started doing it just after I finished a case in which I went four years without pay and had to put up my homes as collateral for loans to fund the lawsuit. I won, but the emotional toll was huge and I slipped into a post-case depression. It was writing fanfiction that brought me back to life, giving me something to look forward to doing and raising my spirits.
Perhaps you see a pattern in the fictional men I fall in love with? These fictional characters are intelligent, logical and emotionally distant, giving my fictional heroines a challenge to make them fall in love. I doubt I'll be writing House fanfic for much longer. It's time to move on, but I have enjoyed the process and will miss the readers terribly. I plan to start writing my own original fiction. Hopefully, it will be well received.
Maybe you wonder about my fictional lovers and what will happen to them? Well, I've had another fictional man come into my life who isn't as emotionally distant as the others, but he is the strong, macho type--Raylan Givens of the series Justified. He's helping me get to sleep at night. I'm sure that Holmes, Spock and House will all still wander in and out of my dreams over the coming years and I must admit I never tire of them. They've been with me for most of my life and I doubt I could ever kick them out of bed now--we know each other too well!
My passion for fictional characters did not stop with Holmes. Around the same time, I also fell in love with another 'logical' fictional character, Spock. It seems odd now that as a ten year old I could become so infatuted with a green skinned, pointed ear character, but I did. As with Holmes, my desire for the character has influenced my life. I've dragged friends and family to numerous StarTrek Conventions, starting when there were small gatherings in dingy hotels back in the 1970s. I have Star Trek paraphenalia all over my house, incuding a Spock teddy bear recently given to me by one of my fanfic readers!
My love for Spock and Holmes hasn't faded and they still occasionally wiggle their way into my daydreams. But in my late twenties, my main fictional squeeze was Jean Luc Piccard, from Star Trek Next Generation. Although I'm still a fan, he's not quite the romantic lead in my head like Holmes and Spock and of course the fictional character that dominates most of my recent fanfic.
Seven years ago I began to watch House MD and immediately became attracted to the emotionally distant and troubled physician. I discovered that there were numerous sites devoted to stories about fictional characters written by fans. It wasn't long before I began writing and posting House fanfic, building a following of readers over the years. In addition to conversing online with my readers, I've met several, have attended our own conventions and, to this day, consider many of them good friends. Writing fanfiction was a Godsend. I started doing it just after I finished a case in which I went four years without pay and had to put up my homes as collateral for loans to fund the lawsuit. I won, but the emotional toll was huge and I slipped into a post-case depression. It was writing fanfiction that brought me back to life, giving me something to look forward to doing and raising my spirits.
Perhaps you see a pattern in the fictional men I fall in love with? These fictional characters are intelligent, logical and emotionally distant, giving my fictional heroines a challenge to make them fall in love. I doubt I'll be writing House fanfic for much longer. It's time to move on, but I have enjoyed the process and will miss the readers terribly. I plan to start writing my own original fiction. Hopefully, it will be well received.
Maybe you wonder about my fictional lovers and what will happen to them? Well, I've had another fictional man come into my life who isn't as emotionally distant as the others, but he is the strong, macho type--Raylan Givens of the series Justified. He's helping me get to sleep at night. I'm sure that Holmes, Spock and House will all still wander in and out of my dreams over the coming years and I must admit I never tire of them. They've been with me for most of my life and I doubt I could ever kick them out of bed now--we know each other too well!
I Didn't Think You'd Read 04/29/2011
Thanks for reading. It's strange to think that you put pen to paper (keystroke to cyberspace) and someone reads. I'm a technology whore, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that the internet would produce at least one person that would read this! Thanks to those who are reading..
The Price of Gold 04/05/2011
I used to worry about confrontation. I'm known to have an opinion, but I didn't like debating with people. As I got older, I realized that anything we mere mortals (as opposed to those with real power) say won't change the price of gold. That means that you have to take other people's opinions lightly, not let them get to you. It's hard to do when things get heated, but if you remember that it's just an opinion, it makes it easier.
Stress 03/19/2011
Telomeres are the little caps on the end of your chromosomes. Their job is to protect your chromosomes from fraying and sticking together. Over the years, the telomeres shorten, break and become damaged and this causes aging. People who are stressed speed up that process and they age quicker than the average person. They did a study and found that women who took daily care of their severely handicapped children aged six years for every one of the average person. I understand that.
Being an attorney is stressful and, although I'm semi-retired, I feel the stress whenever I am about to go to trial. I start to become anxious, my body tenses, I lose sleep and my stomach knots. I know this is killing me, but I have to make a living somehow and this is what I do best. Luckily I exercise, get massages and try to relax when I can, but it's always in the back on my mind.
So, remember what I've told you and choose your profession and lifestyle wisely.
Being an attorney is stressful and, although I'm semi-retired, I feel the stress whenever I am about to go to trial. I start to become anxious, my body tenses, I lose sleep and my stomach knots. I know this is killing me, but I have to make a living somehow and this is what I do best. Luckily I exercise, get massages and try to relax when I can, but it's always in the back on my mind.
So, remember what I've told you and choose your profession and lifestyle wisely.
